RENEWABLES: Indiana lawmakers revisit legislation involving statewide wind and solar siting regulations, though the latest version would make local participation voluntary. (Indianapolis Star)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Missouri House Republicans pursue legislation that would limit local governments’ ability to adopt electric vehicle charging readiness requirements for residents and businesses. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Michigan electric vehicle registrations increased nearly 60% over the past year as state officials and utilities plan to deploy tens of millions of dollars in charging infrastructure funding. (MiBiz)
CLIMATE:
• Wisconsin lawmakers, labor groups and environmentalists urge President Biden and the U.S. Senate to pass a $550 billion federal climate bill. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• Michigan’s climatologist says worsening rainstorms are the Great Lakes region’s biggest climate change threat. (Bridge Michigan)
OIL & GAS:
• BP seeks to appeal a decision that allowed a small Kansas town’s lawsuit over soaring natural gas prices following last year’s February polar vortex to proceed. (Associated Press)
• Suburban Kansas City officials consider purchasing two natural gas-powered turbines for $70 million to help meet customer electricity demand. (Kansas City Business Journal)
• North Dakota officials will no longer challenge a new state law involving oil and gas royalties, ending an attempt to recoup $69 million from energy development roughly a decade ago. (Bismarck Tribune)
SOLAR:
• A metro Chicago city prepares a new community solar program for residents and businesses that would provide utility bill credits for subscribers. (Daily Herald)
• A developer presents plans a 1,200-acre solar project in western Ohio. (WHIO)
CARBON CAPTURE: An Iowa county Democratic Party chairperson urges the state party to take a formal position against land seizures for carbon capture pipeline projects. (Radio Iowa)
WIND:
• State regulators approve plans to replace 65 wind turbines in southwestern Minnesota with 45 larger and more efficient turbines. (Marshall Independent)
• A temporary storage site in Nebraska is holding hundreds of decommissioned wind turbines until they are recycled, while some state lawmakers propose legislation that would ban turbine disposal in the state. (KETV)
BIOFUELS: Oil giant Chevron plans to buy an Iowa biodiesel producer for $3.15 billion. (Des Moines Register)
COMMENTARY: New electric vehicle companies and business models could threaten the livelihoods of Michigan auto dealers whose operations have long been protected by state franchise laws, a columnist writes. (Michigan Advance)